For the first time since 2020, the season before Verstappen won his first world title, Red Bull has 4 races without a win after the Belgian Grand Prix, the last round before the sport’s current summer break.
Verstappen, who started 11th due to a grid penalty, and his teammate Sergio Pérez finished fourth and 7th in Spa-Francorchamps after a race in which Mercedes took a special step forward and finished first in a double before disqualification by George Russell.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished ahead of leader Red Bull.
And with McLaren and Mercedes making huge strides this season to rack up the last four wins, Verstappen suggested Red Bull obviously didn’t have the fastest car in F1.
“I think they are ahead of us,” Verstappen told Sky Sports F1.
“It depends. Sometimes McLaren, Mercedes.
“I think we were faster than Ferrari, but coming from 11th position we didn’t have enough time to overtake them. We know we have a lot of work to do. “
“We know we have to do better, of course we are satisfied with that, but everyone is doing a wonderful job and you also have to take your hat off. “
Recent races have proven to be a shout out since the start of the season when Verstappen won 4 of the first five races and then 3 of the next five to identify an early lead in the drivers’ championship.
His merit over his closest rival, Lando Norris, remains a still comfortable 78 points, and Verstappen’s cause is helped by the fact that form has fluctuated between other groups in recent races and he remains the sole driving force this season to win consecutive races.
Verstappen’s lead remains just above the issues of 3 race wins with 10 grands prix and 3 sprints to come in 2024.
But Red Bull’s lead in the constructors’ championship has become much more precarious amid Perez’s continued struggles to stay fit, with McLaren now with just 42 problems. The gap between the two groups was 115 problems after the first six rounds of the season.
Reflecting on his fourth position since his grid penalty at Spa, Verstappen said: “If you had had P1 where I qualified, my race would probably have been very different and then maybe you can fight for the win,” Verstappen said.
“But of course we take that penalty, you start in 11th position and then you get stuck in traffic on a track where tyre life and overheating are crucial; It’s a complicated race. “
In terms of absolute consistency, McLaren has been the standard-bearer of the grid in recent months with the team on a run of 10 consecutive podium races, the Woking team’s run since thirteen consecutive in 2011-2012.
They have also been the most successful team in the last 8 races.
But the team has insisted that this does not mean it has the fastest car from circuit to circuit, even if its rivals disagree.
“He’s one of the fastest,” said Oscar Piastri of his impressive MCL38 car.
“In Budapest we were the fastest. [In Belgium], on my end, I made too many mistakes in qualifying and that ended up costing us a bit. But we are very even. “
“If we are the fastest, it’s not much. I think Red Bull was very fast this weekend, only Max got caught in the dirty air. Mercedes is obviously also very strong, but we. “We probably had a small advantage, but not the position on the court to capitalize on it.
Meanwhile, Mercedes are also enjoying their run in the current era of ground effect regulations, with the former champions heading into the summer with 3 wins in 4 race weekends.
Lewis Hamilton took two of the wins, whose time in Belgium he inherited after teammate Russell was excluded due to the car’s low weight, and he reckons his sudden resurgence surprised them as much as everyone else.
“I think it’s fantastic that the game has groups and drivers so close,” Hamilton said.
“And, you know, the pedigree of the most sensible riders today is elite and incredible.
“We didn’t expect to race with the McLarens or the Red Bulls at this level of the season, you know, with the way we started. So for us to have closed now. . . it’s going to be a fight. “It’s a moment of the season, that’s for sure. “
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